Intelligent CIO Europe Issue 08 | Page 95

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TRAVEL FORWARD ANNOUNCES LATEST UPGRADE TO ITS SPEAKER LINE-UP T ravel Forward, the new technology- focused event co-located with WTM London, has added a cosmopolitan line-up of speakers to its conference programme, representing high-profile consumer brands and B2B tech providers from Europe and beyond. The inaugural Travel Forward – comprising a conference, exhibition and buyer programme – will take place from November 5 to 7 2018 at ExCeL London, UK. The conference sessions take place on the first two days. Mike Croucher, Chief Architect for Travelport, will open the event on Monday November 5 with a keynote presentation, drawing on his vast experience of travel technology to deliver what promises to be a compelling perspective on the trends and innovations to watch. Other speakers from the technology sector include Francesca Benati, Vice President of Online for Western Europe, MEA for Amadeus. She is also Managing Director for Amadeus’ entire Italian business and will be on a panel talking about distribution on Tuesday November 6. Travel Forward aims to position travel as part of the overall technology landscape www.intelligentcio.com and has confirmed that Dr Sue Black, a technology evangelist with a PhD in software engineering, will deliver a keynote speech on the Monday. Dr Black is a government adviser and has played a prominent role in championing the role of women in the technology industry. While Amadeus and Travelport are pure-play B2B tech providers to the travel and hospitality sectors, technology is no longer a discrete silo within consumer brands. Businesses such as kiwi.com and Skyscanner have built successful businesses based on proprietary technology and senior execs from both companies will be part of the Travel Forward conference programme. Kiwi.com has coined the phrase ‘virtual interlining’ and has built a platform which connects flights from different airlines, allowing passengers to visit destinations from their chosen airport which are not served by direct flights. It is capable of creating more than 15 million flight combinations and handles around 90 million search queries a day. Stephen Davis is kiwi.com’s Chief Marketing Officer and will be talking about personalisation on the Monday afternoon. Skycanner’s Filip Filipov will also be speaking at Travel Forward. His CV confirms INTELLIGENT VERTICAL: TRAVEL “ TECH IS NOW AN INTEGRAL PART OF EVERY TRAVEL COMPANY ACROSS ALL SECTORS AND GEOGRAPHIES. the extent to which travel technology is truly global – he was educated at Harvard in the US and INSEAD in France, before working for a VC firm in Bulgaria and in Singapore. He relocated to Skyscanner’s base in Scotland in 2013, a few years before Skyscanner was bought by Ctrip, China’s largest online travel agency. His session on the opening day will look at the theory and practice of blockchain from the perspective of a truly global and innovative technology-based travel business. Elsewhere, some mainstream travel brands are also on the agenda. Club Med has been around since 1950 and has successfully managed its digital transformation by INTELLIGENTCIO 95